CAMPAIGN
FINANCE - Independent Expenditures

GUIDELINES
SET BY SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES

Persons,
groups of persons and political committees may support
candidates covered by the Sunshine Law by making
independent expenditures on their behalf. Independent
expenditures may be made without limit since they do not
count against the contribution limits established by
Section 67-6610A, Idaho Code.

This outline
defines the term independent expenditure and explains
reporting and other requirements involved in making
independent expenditures.

If you have
any questions after reading this outline, please call the
Secretary of State's office at (208)334-2852.

REPORTING
REQUIREMENTS

1) Each
person who makes independent expenditures in an aggregate
amount exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) in support of
or in opposition to any one (1) candidate, political
committee or measure, shall file a statement of the
expenditure with the Secretary of State.

2)
Statements shall be filed with the Secretary of State,
not less than seven (7) days prior to the primary and
general election and thirty (30) days after the primary
and general election.

3) The
statement shall contain the following information: (a)
the name and address of any person to whom an expenditure
in excess of fifty dollars ($50.00) has been made by any
such person in support of or in opposition to any such
candidate or issue during the reporting period, together
with the amount, date and purpose of each such
expenditure; and (b) the total sum of all expenditures
made in support of or in opposition to any candidate or
measure.

(4) In addition to the requirements set forth in subsections
(1) and (2) of this section, each person who makes independent expenditures
in an aggregate amount of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more after
the sixteenth day before, but more than forty-eight (48) hours before,
any primary or general election, shall file a written statement of
the expenditure with the secretary of state not more than forty-eight
(48) hours from the time of such expenditure. The statement shall include
the information required in subsection (3) of this section.

FORM
C-2 Political action committees registered with
the Secretary of State's office making Independent
Expenditures should identify the expenditures as
independent on the C-2 Campaign Disclosure Report.

What
is an independent expenditure?

"Independent
expenditure" means any expenditure by a person for a
communication expressly advocating the election, passage
or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or measure
that is not made with the cooperation or with the prior
consent of, or in consultation with, or at the consent
of, or in consultation with, or at the request of a
suggestion of, a candidate or any agent or authorized
committee of the candidate or political committee
supporting or opposing a measure. As used in this
subsection, "expressly advocating" means any
communication containing a message advocating election,
passage or defeat including, but not limited to, the name
of the candidate or measure, or expression such as
"vote for," "elect,"
"support," "cast your ballot for,"
"vote against," "defeat" or
"reject."

When
is a candidate "clearly identified"?

A candidate
is clearly identified if the candidate's name, nickname,
photograph or drawing appears, or the identity of the
candidate is otherwise apparent. Examples include:
"the Governor," "your senator",
"the Democratic candidate for Senate in Legislative
District 14."

What
is "Express Advocacy" (Candidate Advocacy)?

Express
advocacy (candidate advocacy) means that the
communication includes a message that unmistakably urges
election or defeat of one or more clearly identified
candidates(s).

"Vote
for the Governor," "re-elect your
Senator," "support the Democratic
nominee," "cast your ballot for the
Republican challenger for Senate,"
"vote against Franklin for House Position
B," "reject Reform for Governor."

Words
urging action with respect to candidates
associated with a particular issue, e.g.,
"vote Pro-Cars" /
"Pro-Bicycles," when accompanied by
names or photographs of candidates identified as
either supporting or opposing the issue;

"Defeat"
accompanied by a photograph of the opposed
candidate, or the opposed candidate's name, or
"reject the incumbent"; and

Campaign
slogan(s) or word(s), e.g., on posters, bumper
stickers and advertisements, that in context can
have no other reasonable meaning than to support
or oppose a clearly identified candidate, for
example, "Erickson's the One,"
"Leaf '98."

What
is not an
independent expenditure?

When an
expenditure for a communication expressly advocating a
candidate's election or defeat is made under the
circumstances described below, it results in an in-kind
contribution rather than an independent expenditure and
therefore counts against the spender's contribution limit
for the candidate's election.

Coordination
with candidate's campaign
Any expenditure made in cooperation or consultation with
the candidate's campaign or as a result of a request,
suggestion, or prior consent from the candidate or the
campaign is an in-kind contribution, not an independent
expenditure.

Direction
by campaign employee An expenditure made on behalf of a
candidate but directed by a current or former officer or
employee of that candidate's committee or by a person who
has received compensation or reimbursement from the
campaign is presumed not to be independent.

Use
of common vendors The independence of an expenditure made for
a communication in support of a candidate (or in
opposition to his or her opponent) may be compromised if
the person making the communication and that candidate's
campaign use the same consultant or vendor.

Solicitations
on behalf of a candidate An expenditure made for a communication
that solicits the public for contributions on behalf of a
candidate is an in-kind contribution if the person making
the communication collects and forwards the money to the
candidate's committee.

Prior
contributions may affect independence A person making an independent expenditure
should be aware that making certain types of in-kind
contributions to a particular candidate may jeopardize
that person's ability, in the future, to make independent
expenditures on behalf of that same candidate. For
example, if a committee provided paid staff or services
to a candidate's primary campaign, then the committee
would have direct knowledge of the candidate's campaign
strategy, plans or needs. Therefore, expenditures by that
committee during the election could not be considered
independent.

Example:
An individual, not previously involved in Candidate
Smith's campaign and without ever contacting any of his
campaign staff, purchases a newspaper advertisement
supporting Smith. The payment for the ad is an
independent expenditure. If, however, before purchasing
the ad, the person consults with Candidate Smith or his
campaign staff as to how he or she can help the campaign
or when Smith wants the newspaper ad to appear, the
person makes an in-kind contribution. Or, if the person
pays for a campaign ad that uses text actually prepared
by Smith's campaign, the person makes an in-kind
contribution to the candidate (An in-kind contribution,
when combined with all other contributions from the same
person, is limited to $1,000 per legislative and district
judge candidates and $5,000 per statewide candidates, per
election.